


Low Maintenance

by jeannigrace



Series: Observation is a Dying Art [1]
Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F, could go platonic or romantic depends on how you squint, if you squint really hard there's hints of polybusters, it's mostly just observations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-12
Updated: 2016-10-12
Packaged: 2018-08-22 00:37:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8266280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeannigrace/pseuds/jeannigrace
Summary: Abby knows better than to mistake Holtzmann’s carefully crafted chaos for carelessness.





	

Erin and Patty think Holtzmann is low maintenance. The very definition of it, Erin would tell you. She mismatches her socks every single day, Patty would say, she’s the most low maintenance person on the planet. But Abby knows better.

Abby has seen Holtzmann spend half an hour on the pins in the back of her hair. Three bobby pins clenched between her teeth, twisting the curls into tight buns along the edge of her scalp. Each bun exactly the same size, equal portions of hair. It’s a damn miracle Holtzmann hasn’t set her apartment building on fire yet, with all the hairspray.

Abby has seen the convoluted mess of Holtzmann’s closet, but she’s also started to figure out the system. Darkest on the left, lightest on the right. Shoes organized not by height but by how much she loves them. Socks paired by how they feel instead of how they look. She’s got three cedar chests full to bursting, and a dresser drawer only for her goggles.

Of all the ghostbusters, only Abby has been witness to the painstaking process of Holtzmann getting dressed in the morning. Colors that never quite clash, patterns of the same magnitude, complementing her shoes with her watch. Competing textures. At least one layer of practical clothing. Something to add visual interest to her torso: a silk scarf tied in a half windsor knot (it takes her barely a minute), a bolo tie from the thrift store, a tight vest. And always, always, the necklace.

Only Abby has seen the careful, precise application of just enough eyeliner, mascara, and tinted lip balm to not quite look like she was wearing anything. The meticulous way that Holtzmann stepped back from the mirror, blinked a few times, and turned her head side to side to make sure it wasn’t obvious. She’d seen Holtz apply the eyeliner too thick, wipe it all off, and start over, even closer to the mirror. 

Abby knows better than to mistake Holtzmann’s carefully crafted chaos for carelessness.

**Author's Note:**

> I just really love the history between Abby and Holtz that we don't get to see much of in the movie.  
> Also it's totally unbeta'd so, that.


End file.
